A revised version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 18-1), is
effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after January 29, 2018. Please be advised that, depending
on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 18-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this
funding opportunity.

SYNOPSIS

The Arctic Natural Sciences (ANS) Program supports disciplinary and interdisciplinary research related to arctic processes, with particular emphasis on understanding the changing arctic environment. The Program encourages proposals that test hypotheses leading to new understanding of the Arctic and the development of predictive tools. Although proposals to perform monitoring per se are discouraged, the program welcomes proposals that synthesize and analyze historical data

Proposals submitted to the ANS program should focus on arctic processes; proposals to examine generic processes that could just as easily be studied outside the Arctic are more appropriate to other programs within the Foundation. ANS co-reviews proposals relevant to arctic processes that are submitted to many other programs in, among others, the Directorates for Geosciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; and Biological Sciences. ANS formally participates in several cross-foundation competitions each year. A recent example is the Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change program. Arctic proposals that are suitable for review within these special competitions must be submitted directly to these competitions rather than to ANS; if there is doubt as to the appropriate “home” for a proposal, prospective PIs are encouraged to contact the ANS program directors prior to proposal submission. Individual PIs may be listed as PI, co-PI, or senior personnel on no more than a total of two proposals under consideration for funding at any given time.

Areas of special interest to the ANS program include marine and terrestrial ecosystems, terrestrial hydrology, arctic atmospheric and oceanic dynamics and climatology, and arctic glaciological processes. Within these areas, some clarification of ANS priorities follows. ANS particularly encourages projects that emphasize understanding of arctic ecology in the context of a rapidly changing arctic system – projects focused on couplings between biological, physical, and geochemical aspects of the system and projects concerning novel, dominant, and changing connectivities between the Arctic and lower latitudes. Geology and geophysics projects of greatest interest are those that will improve interpretations of the geologic record of environmental change in the Arctic during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Projects that focus on arctic snow and ice, glaciers, and the Greenland ice sheet, are supported. Understanding the processes responsible for the evolution of permafrost and consequences of changing permafrost remains a priority. The Program supports ocean science projects that advance knowledge of the processes of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas and their interactions with and across their boundaries. Given the breadth of ANS supported research, successful proposals are those that resonate both with disciplinary experts and with a diverse group of panelists who are asked to consider the relevance of each proposal to understanding the Arctic.